Community rejects inclusion in Ose State

Following the agitation for the creation of Ose State from the present Ondo State, the people of Uso community in Owo Local Government Area of the state have rejected the inclusion of the community in the proposed state.They argued that the community is historically independent of the communities in Owo area.According to a statement by the Regent of Uso, HRH Adekemi Olijogun, the secretary of Uso Council of Chiefs, High Chief Modupe Ogundare and a community leader, Emmanuel Ayodele, the community was not carried along on the demand for the creation of Ose State.The community added that even if they were carried along, they would have categorically expressed lack of interest in the proposed Ose State.The people, in the statement, acknowledged that the people calling for the creation of Ose State, which include, Akoko, Owo, and Ose, have the constitutional right to make the demand but said Uso community was never culturally part of Owo or any of the ethnic groups calling for the creation of the new state.The statement said: 'That Uso people originally migrated from Oba-Ile in Akure North Local Government Area to settle in its present site in 1280 A.D. and the community has its own distinct language and culture different from that of Owo and any other part of the proposed state.'That the British colonial administration arbitrarily merged Uso with the old Owo division in 1932, using River Ogbese as boundary without considering the interest of the people.'Their request has not constituted any embarrassment to Uso people but what is surprising is the fact that those demanding for Ose State have failed to carry Uso people along.'They explained that rivers no longer serve as boundaries between two culturally related or distinct communities or state, saying that the people determine where they want to belong and not geographical or artificial boundaries.They said: 'The relocation of Sobe which was formerly in Ose Local Government Area of Ondo State to Owan West Local Government Area of Edo State underscores the constitutional provision that it is the people and not geographical or artificial boundaries that determine where they belong.'In the same vein, the people of Imeri vehemently protested the use of River Ose as boundary when they were merged with Akoko-Edo Local Government Area of Edo State. Eventually, the Federal government acceded to the demand of Imeri people and brought them back to Ondo State.'The people, however, appealed to the presidency and the National Assembly to carve Uso community out of Ose State if the demand is eventually granted.
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